Outdoor Learning Conference 2025: Full Schedule

Welcome to the 2025 Outdoor Learning Conference

3:15pm MDT

Relations and Resilience: Intra-connecting with Land and Place through Hands-on Metaphor LIMITED

Thursday May 8, 2025 3:15pm - 4:30pm MDT

What relations ground your practice? How are these relationships resilient? How do we interweave our connections to land and place in order to strengthen them? Join us to explore relationality and resilience in our educational lives by creating a hands-on metaphor representing our diverse pedagogical practices. Our session begins with dialogue as we share how we know what we know, and examine our own personal beliefs. Participants will intra-connect with land and place, and craft physical metaphors using both found and brought items that will represent our relationship building and resiliency practices. Our session closes with sharing and celebration, and considering steps for the journey to come. Please dress for the weather as we will be walking and sitting outside. There will be some moments to contemplate and journal should you wish to.

Speakers

Alisa Paul

Cohort Coordinator, Adjunct Professor, Faculty Advisor, Education for Sustainability, UBC

Alisa is a teacher educator in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia, where she co-leads the Education for Sustainability teacher education cohort. Alisa Paul is working on her PhD in Learning Environments. She completed her M.Ed in 2019 at SFU in Ecological... Read More →

Patrick Robertson

UBC

Patrick is a teacher educator in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia, where he co-leads the Education for Sustainability teacher education cohort. He also leads Syncollab Strategies, a consulting collaborative in B.C. working with a range of local, provincial... Read More →

Thursday May 8, 2025 3:15pm - 4:30pm MDT
Otter

Health and Wellbeing Workshop, Health and Wellbeing

11:00am MDT

Leading through Land-based Learning LIMITED

Friday May 9, 2025 11:00am - 12:15pm MDT

Otter

In this interactive session, Dr. Lindy Phelps-Henderson takes participants on a journey through Indigenous land-based practices as they align with everyday classroom activities. As an educator and Metis citizen, Lindy strives to centre Indigenous knowledges and ways of being in her daily work in a K-12 land-based school. Language revitalization, Language Arts, Math, Science, and Technology, and the Arts are aligned with traditional and modern land-based practices. The First Nation Holistic Lifelong Learning Model and traditional medicine wheel are at the heart of Lindy's doctoral research and school-based planning, assessment, and evaluation. She welcomes participants from all sectors and levels of education to join her in this celebration of learning from, on, and with the land. Participants will leave with ready-to-use lesson ideas as we share examples of land-based learning from Treaty 3 territory.

Speakers

Lindy Henderson

Kaa'Naa'Matay Wiigiiam (The Teaching Lodge)

Dr. Lindy Phelps-Henderson is the principal of a K-12 land-based school called Kaa'Naa'Matay Wiigiiam (The Teaching Lodge) on Washagamis Bay First Nation near Kenora, ON. For over twenty years Lindy worked with youth in the public school system as a classroom teacher, forest school... Read More →

Lowell Johnston

Friday May 9, 2025 11:00am - 12:15pm MDT
Otter

Indigenous Ways of Knowing Workshop

3:15pm MDT

The Big Reconnect: How Innovative Outdoor Education Cultivates Connection to Self, Community, and Nature in K-12 Schools LIMITED

Friday May 9, 2025 3:15pm - 4:30pm MDT

Otter

"Participants will inhabit the roles of teacher and student in an interactive outdoor learning experience using innovative technology and project-based learning to connect to self, community, and nature. Guided by Cornell Lab and Friends Academy educators, participants will engage in 21st century outdoor learning activities that spark connection, inquiry, research, and collaboration.

Participants will also learn about Cornell Lab’s K-12 Education Program and how it partners with schools like Friends Academy to build science skills in young people. Through its partnership with schools, the Cornell Lab inspires young people to connect to local habitats, explore biodiversity, and engage in participatory-science projects. This workshop will model and explore how the Cornell Lab partnered with Friends Academy, providing its educators with professional development in an inquiry-based approach to science, and partnering with students and teachers on a cutting-edge interdisciplinary project."

Speakers

Susan Licher

K-12 Education Learning Coordinator, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University

Susan Licher is the K-12 Learning Coordinator at Cornell Lab of Ornithology where she develops and delivers transformational training for educators that supports them in connecting students to nature, strengthens their skills in using participatory (citizen) science, and increases... Read More →

Daniel Mendel

Friends Academy

Daniel Mendel is the Dean of Innovation at Friends Academy. His work is focused on K-12 program development, innovative teaching and curricular design, and teacher support and training. Through pedagogical approaches such as problem-based learning and interdisciplinary project-based... Read More →

Jen Halliday

Jen Halliday is the Associate Head of School and Director of Academic Affairs at Friends Academy, where she plays a pivotal role in shaping the academic vision and ensuring the delivery of exceptional educational experiences for all students. With a deep commitment to fostering a... Read More →

Alana Kessler-Yudin

Alana Kessler-Yudin is the Forest Program Lead at Friends Academy, where she fosters outdoor learning experiences that connect students to nature and inspire personal growth. She holds an M.A. in Special Education with a focus on Arts Integration and a B.A. in Religious Studies from... Read More →

Friday May 9, 2025 3:15pm - 4:30pm MDT
Otter

Environmental and Climate Change Education Workshop

9:45am MDT

From Fear to Fact: A Balanced View on Microplastics and Chemicals LIMITED

Saturday May 10, 2025 9:45am - 11:00am MDT

Otter

This workshop hopes to address fear-based reception about microplastics through a hands-on sample analysis with the Microplastics Educational Toolkit from Ocean Diagnostics. Guided by two Early Career Ocean Professional (ECOP) Microplastics Ambassadors with backgrounds in microplastics research and chemistry education, participants will learn from microplastics sources & impacts on the environment and human health.

Session Host

Karine Cere

Indigenous Education Outdoor Learning Curriculum Coordinator, School District 93

Karine is a K to 12 teacher who specializes in outdoor learning and Indigenous education. She has worked as a classroom teacher, a teacher librarian, curriculum coordinator, and university instructor. She is passionate about outdoor learning, well-being and inclusion in education... Read More →

Speakers

Isabella Liu

Innovation & Technology Coordinator, Branksome Hall

Isabella Liu Branksome Hall Innovation & Technology Coordinator Isabella Liu is the Innovation & Technology Coordinator at Branksome Hall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In this role, she supports K-6 digital learning & citizenship. A recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching... Read More →

Zoë Ungku Fa'iz

University of Toronto

Zoë is a masters student at the University of Toronto. Her eagerness to learn more about the harmful materials in our environment started with an internship with Ocean Uprise by Parley for the Oceans and a position as a field researcher with the U of T Trash Team’s Fighting Floatables... Read More →

Saturday May 10, 2025 9:45am - 11:00am MDT
Otter

Environmental and Climate Change Education Workshop

Outdoor Learning Conference 2025